Friday, 23 October 2015

Suffolk Community Action

‘Make Your Mark’ is an annual consultation run by the UK Youth Parliament where young people aged 11-18 have the opportunity to vote inform UKYP’s campaign for the next year by voting for their top issue from a list of 10. This year, over 920,000 young people voted nationally and Suffolk had a fantastic turn-out of 13,906!

We are all aware of the rising need to demonstrate the Social Impact our organisations have and how they add Social Value to our communities. However, the world of Social Impact Measurement can be perceived as complex, resource heavy and expensive! We are seeking 15 organisations across Suffolk to take part in a pilot and be prepared to publicise the fantastic work that we know is happening which improves people’s lives on a daily basis.

A new report by The Campaign for Community Banking Services (CBBS) highlights the accelerating rate of bank closures. The CBBS says that 1,200 communities across the UK have lost all their banks and hundreds more will do so in the next five years.

Communities across England are set to benefit from more than £132.6 million after the Big Lottery Fund and EU have joined forces. The Big Lottery Fund is matching funds from the European Social Fund (ESF) 2014-2020 to provide joint investment in 61 local projects tackling poverty, promoting social inclusion and boosting local economies.

We were very pleased to hear that there is a strong desire to keep the centre at the heart of the local community, and there was some discussion around getting interested parties to meet together again, to consider whether a partnership might be formed.

A new campaign, Grow Your Community, has been launched in Suffolk to recognise the positive changes people make to their communities and to inspire others to grow their community.

Community Action Suffolk (CAS) is asking people to visit www.growyourcommunity.org.uk and share how they grow their community to make it a better place. This could be something as simple as looking after a friend’s children, picking up litter on your street or doing some shopping for an elderly neighbour.

Community Action Suffolk events

Whether you're interested in writing a good funding application or need an award in food safety, we have a wide range of courses available. CAS members receive a discount on the cost of training, for example £25 compared to £40 for our Writing A Good Funding Application course. If you would like to book on a course, please click a link below for booking instructions.

These events are for voluntary and community sector organisations. All locality network and volunteering network events are free to attend and you can book online today. View all our networking events for 2015 in ourevents calendar.

Suffolk news

Empowering children, young people and vulnerable adults to use digital technology safely

Listening to, and understanding the online experiences of children, young people and vulnerable adults has been fundamental to the success of the annual e-Safer Suffolk Cybersurvey.

In 2014, we received over 2,600 responses to the Cybersurvey. Today we need your help and commitment to reach this year’s target of 4,000. Any organisation working with groups of children (min age 10), young people or vulnerable adults can help by encouraging their service users to take part. So if you’re working with these groups – please support them to have their views heard and acted upon. Every organisation that takes part in the Cybersurvey will require an access code. To receive your code please contact: engagement.hub@suffolk.gov.uk

The e-Safer Suffolk Partnership is supported by Suffolk County Council, the Local Safeguarding Children Board, Adult Safeguarding Board, Suffolk Police and Suffolk PCC.

Closing date for responses is Monday 30 November

If have any questions regarding the content of the cybersurvey please contact: Marisa Batson, Co-Design Lead, Children and Young People's Services, Suffolk County Council. Email:marisa.batson@suffolk.gov.uk

The Princess Royal visited a number of community projects in Lowestoft on Tuesday 13 October 2015, accompanied by Community Action Suffolk’s Patron, Lady Euston. Her Royal Highness visited CAS members Catch 22, DreamworXand Access Community Trust on her visit to the county, her fifth visit to meet Suffolk charities in the last five years.

Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT) and Healthwatch Suffolk have organised a half-day conference - ‘Inspiring progress in improving mental health for BME communities’ - to explain more about the initiative, which has been designed to increase understanding of the issues faced by the county’s diverse communities when accessing and using mental health services. For more information please click here.

Sports to support BBC Children In Need

BSC Supplementary School, currently supported by BBC Children In Need, is organising a sports marathon on Saturday 7 November 2015 at St Helens Primary School, Ipswich, IP4 2LT (2pm to 4pm). Children, parents, staff & volunteers will be trying to go around the sports circuit as many times as possible to raise money for the BBC charity event in the week leading up to the main “Children In Need” national fundraising evening on 16 November. BBC Children in Need is the BBC's UK corporate charity and they provide grants to projects in the UK which focus on children and young people who are disadvantaged. Covering all corners of the UK they support small and large organisations which empower children and extend their life choices.

Do you have something to promote in and around Woodbridge?

If you are a local organisation or charity who would like to promote events or encouraging volunteers to join you, then don’t forget to let Woodbridge Library know. There is an information folder where posters can be left, along with an information stand where you can leave leaflets or postcards which people can pick up as they go about their business in Woodbridge. If you would like to drop information in, or send it electronically so that is can be printed off, please let in touch with Helen Scrivener the Library Manager via 01394 446510, Helen Scrivener Helen.Scrivener@suffolklibraries.co.uk

Funding

Grants up to £1,500 are available for work with young people (aged 8-25) that addresses citizenship, community safety and crime prevention which tackles issues such as:

Bullying

Vandalism and arson

Anti-social behaviour

Homelessness

Internet safety

Personal safety

Road safety

Knife crime

Drug and alcohol abuse/awareness

Community cohesion, especially with older people and minorities

The Foundation will consider applications from charities, voluntary and community groups in Suffolk whose primary aim is to improve the quality of people’s lives. For this particular fund, schools can also apply subject to the project being an extra curricular activity.

(short deadline!) Edge Fund supports those taking action for a just, equitable and sustainable world. Funding is available for work that challenges abuses of power and aims to bring an end to the systems that cause injustice. This could be the economic system, political system, or any system that discriminates against people based on their identity or background (eg class, ability, gender, race, nationality, religion, sexuality, age or other factors)

The Morrisons Foundation provides grants towards projects undertaken by registered charities undertaking projects with the aim of improving people’s lives They is no limit to how much you can apply for, although the project must benefit people in the UK. It also supports Morrisons colleagues' fundraising by match funding their efforts pound for pound ­ up to £500­ twice a year.